White House to direct supply of COVID drug amid access fears

WASHINGTON — Trying to head off another chaotic scramble for scarce supplies, the White House said Friday it will step in to help coordinate distribution of the first drug that appears to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, will become one of the chief consultants on where the intravenous medication remdesivir will be distributed.

Alarm is growing in the medical community about access to the drug, which was cleared for emergency use last week by the Food and Drug Administration.

Birx is “the person who’s constantly reviewing the numbers, constantly reviewing the data,“McEnany said. “And she really has the best grasp as to how that should be distributed.” McEnany provided no additional detail on distribution.

As has happened with personal protective gear and coronavirus tests, the availability of remdesivir could become another foreseeable debacle in the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Understandably, hospitals with COVID-19 patients are desperate to access the product,“the head of a national organization that represents hospitals pharmacists wrote Vice President Mike Pence earlier this week.

“The process for hospitals to access the drug remains unclear,” wrote Paul Abramowitz, CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

The company that makes the antiviral drug, Californiabased Gilead Sciences, has said it is donating its entire current stockpile to help in the U.S. pandemic response.

But Abramowitz said that initial supply will be “very limited,“1.5 million doses that translate to 5 to 10 days of treatment for 140,000 patients.

“It is clear that the majority of current COVID-19 patients will not receive it,” Abramowitz wrote to Pence.

A leading hospital in Michigan was denied doses of remdesivir, Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said Friday. Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan has treated more than 500 COVID-19 patients, including more than 80 currently hospitalized, she said.

“If leading educational hospitals don’t have access to doses, it indicates there may be a problem,” Dingell said in a statement calling the situation “deeply concerning.”

A senior Michigan Republican also has concerns.

“We know remdesivir has shown promising results for those severely infected by COVID-19, but we now we need to know if it is getting into the hands of those who need it most,” Rep. Fred Upton said in a statement.

It’s unclear how the Trump administration will address the such concerns about access. One possibility is to rely on a Health and Human Services department division that deals with preparedness and response.

“We urge the administration to take immediate action to ensure transparent and orderly allocation of remdesivir to our nation’s hospitals,” Abramowitz, of the pharmacists’ group, wrote Pence.

He raised concerns about potential scenarios, such as one hospital in a region getting a supply, and then another hospital in the state being overwhelmed by a spike in severe cases.

“Hospitals should have the ability to send remdesivir doses where they are most needed,” he wrote.

The pharmacists’ group is asking for the allocation process to be made public, with as much information as possible on how remdesivir will be distributed. Gilead is ramping up production.

The eventual price of the drug is also a question mark, since Gilead’s promise to donate the medication applies only to its current stockpile.

Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images Daniel O’Day, CEO of Gilead Sciences Inc., speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 1. Gilead makes remdesivir, an anti-viral shown to reduce recovery times in COVID-19 patients. O’Day said May 3 the company is making the drug available to patients in the United States through the government.